September '98

September '98

During September we had a couple of minor rating session and one major. From friends across the world we had recieved a couple of gifts, for which we are very greatful! Thanks! You know who you are...

It was one of the gifts that surprisingly not only snatched first position of the month, but also for the entire year, and a top-10 postion overall. The mahnificently complex and lively Im Füchsen Altbier, by far the best altbier I've encountered. Second position was stolen by a very complex Belgian lager, brewed by a small brewpub, and brought home by some people in the group after sailing the Belgian shore.

Other top rated beers was Altenburger Premium, a German Helles, and the nice Dutch witbier Leeuw ValkenbuKorean rgs Wit. The Czechish Velvet was an interesting mix of British ale and Czechis pils, coming in a Guinness-style draughtflow can. Zulte was a Flemish red inthe same style as Ridenbach, fruity, deep red and lightly sourish.

Further down the list we'll find Saison Regal, a lively complex saison, Tall Ship No.1 Barley Wine Style Ale, a very strong Canadian barley wine brewed with honey that I enjoyed very much. Well balanced, and surprisingly smooth for being over 11%. Dreher Bak, a dark strong lager, was the first interesting Hungarian beer I've come across.

We also tried some Asian beers, which sadly didn't make much impression on our scorelist. The best of those being Lal Toofan, an Indian beer brewed from rice with no to very little character. Personally I might have found the equally character lacking but thirst quenching Korean Cass Fresh Beer slightly better, but really, they're not worth seeking out. That is unless you get to choose from those or the can we rated which only text in latin letters was "I Want Beer" and something about the alcohol monopoly of Taiwan. the label wasn't all that wrong thoug. After drinking the useless beer inside that can we all longed for a beer... Another complete failure was the alcoholic (10%) sugar water that Grolsch brews under the name Gulpener Gladiator.

Beers rated September '98
PLACEBEERCOUNTRYSCOREJZPSCGFHLGOHRBMHSTYLE
8Im Füchsen AltbierGermany4.50 5  4544Ale, German style
23PelikanBelgium4.31 4  5544Lager, Light
107Altenburger PremiumGermany3.92534     Lager, Light
138Leeuw Valkenburgs WitNetherlands3.81 4  5424Wheat beer
258Triple MoineBelgium3.62 4 344 3Ale, Belgian style
269VelvetCzech Rep.3.60344     Special
308ZulteBelgium3.51 4 443 2Ale, Belgian style
310Celis White*USA3.49 4  4423Wheat beer
475Leffe TripelBelgium3.28 3 344 3Ale, Belgian style
482Hougardse DASBelgium3.28 4 34413Ale, Belgian style
650De Neve GueuzeBelgium3.07 3 45411Gueuze/Lambic
796Ciney BlondBelgium2.95 4 23332Ale, Belgian style
816Grimbergen BlondBelgium2.94 3 333 3Ale, Belgian style
826Torgauer LandbierGermany2.92423     Lager, Light
905Timmermans Pêche LambicBelgium2.81 3  4322Gueuze/Lambic
992Saison RegalBelgium2.70 4  2411Ale, Belgian style
1006Ciney SpecialeBelgium2.67 4 31232Ale, Belgian style
1061Tall Ship No.1 Barley Wine AleCanada2.63 5 12222Ale, British style
1190La Gauloise BruneBelgium2.45 3 322 2Ale, Belgian style
1220Grimbergen Optimo BrunoBelgium2.40 4 221 2Ale, Belgian style
1253Merck Toch Hohe Sterch DonckerNetherlands2.35 3 23222Ale, Belgian style
1256Brand PilsenerNetherlands2.35 2  33 2Lager, Light
1282Classe Royale BierNetherlands2.31 2  32 3Lager, Light
1282Leeuw PilsenerNetherlands2.31 2  32 3Lager, Light
1285Ciney BruneBelgium2.30 3 22133Ale, Belgian style
1334Steinlager 3.5%*New Zealand2.24223     Lager, Light
1340Dreher BakHungary2.24 3 23221Lager, Bock
1396Dommelsch PilsenerNetherlands2.14 2  23 2Lager, Light
1509Viking GyllturIceland1.92312     Lager, Light
1553St Louis Gueuze LambicBelgium1.78 1  3411Gueuze/Lambic
1571Lal ToofanIndia1.71 2 12222Lager, Light
1636Cass Fresh BeerSouth Korea1.53 2 121 2Lager, Light
1637GB Wit BierBelgium1.53 1  2132Wheat beer
1700I Want BeerTaiwan1.20 1 121 2Lager, Light
1715Gulpener GladiatorNetherlands0.99 1 11121Ale, Belgian style
1723La Belle StrabourgeoiseFrance0.94111     Lager, Light
Rated by: Johan Zetterlund, Per Samuelsson, Cecilia Gårdebäck, Fredrik Huldt, Lars Granström, Oscar Hansson, Robert Boström and Minna Hytönen

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Updated 98-10-19 Per Samuelsson